Where to do my company’s printing?

Google searches for online printing services commonly begin with ‘kinkos near me’ almost as often as any other keyword search for printing. ‘FedEx near me’ is also a large search volume but because FedEx has multiple services unrelated to printing, many people still do not associate printing with FedEx (FedEx purchased Kinkos in 2004 and began dropping the Kinkos name from their marketing in 2008). Nonetheless, when you’re shopping for the best printing prices for your company you’ll want to understand the importance of comparing local online printing services with FedEx because the bulk of search results for ‘printing’ will return FedEx simply because of paid acquisitions (like Kinkos), and paid advertising i.e. FedEx pay-per-click.

The value of comparing local printers to FedEx is the incredible print savings you can discover for your company. Leaner ‘print shops near me,’ like Image Square Printing in Santa Monica, CA, provide all the same services without the built-in overhead of advertising and acquisition. Local copy shops provide savings for smaller printing, like flyers or photos, and even bigger savings for very large projects including banners, trade show displays, step and repeat backdrops, canvas art, canopy tents, giant checks, vinyl banners, table top displays, custom table throws, exhibits, floor and wall decals, construction posters, retractable banner stands and much more.

Let's now review the pros and cons of local print shops vs. fedex:

PROS LOCAL PRINT SHOPS
1) Simply upload your artwork to the web, pick your turnaround time and go to the store when it's ready (or have it delivered).
2) Build a trusted relationship with a copy shop you’ll use every time, like Image Square Printing, who will learn your business and provide excellent quality and customized service uniquely tailored to you--at a fraction of the price.
3) Cost. Relative to FedEx, local print shops are very inexpensive.                                                                                    4) You have full control. Once you choose your product you are the captain of your ship and become the project manager.

CONS LOCAL PRINT SHOPS
5) Clear communication is essential and may require both an online order and a follow-up phone call to ensure that both parties are on the same page.


PROS FEDEX
1) Though the cost is high, your order is typically covered by an unwritten warranty, so that if they botch your print or forget to add a detail, well, they’ll print it again for free—if you make enough fuss.                                     


CONS FEDEX
2) Cost. Unnecessarily Expensive.

3) Your company can’t always build a relationship with FedEx because there is often an ever-changing staff of printers and employees.

CONCLUSION

• If you are cost conscious and have the time to build a long-lasting relationship with a local print shop, like Image Square Printing in Santa Monica, CA, do it! You’ll be grateful you did because you’ll save a ton of money for your company and always get the highest quality printing with personal service second-to-none.

• If you just need it fast, and don’t care about the bloated prices, FedEx is a fit because they’ll back-it-up if they mess-it-up.